76ers snap 0-17 slide, avoid tying NBA-worst start
MINNEAPOLIS — Brett Brown is the son of a coach, a product of southern Maine who played for Rick Pitino at Boston University before becoming a coaching lifer himself. Last year he left the comfort of the San Antonio Spurs bench, where he assisted Gregg Popovich for seven seasons, to take on one of the NBA's most challenging head coaching jobs — rejuvenating the Philadelphia 76ers.
He endured a 26-game losing streak his first season, the trading of most veterans of significance, and the influx of so many first-and second-year players that on opening night the 76ers trotted out the NBA's youngest roster (23.97 years) for the second straight season. The 76ers lost their first 17 games as critics accused ownership of tanking the season.
Wednesday morning, with the mood at the team's shootaround upbeat and relaxed, Brown insisted the first victory was close. "We're getting better," he said.
That victory, unsightly as it was, came Wednesday night. By beating equally young and undermanned Minnesota 85-77 at the Target Center, the 76ers avoided tying the New Jersey Nets' NBA-worst 0-18 start in 2009.
Playing without leading scorer Tony Wroten (right knee sprain), Philadelphia committed 19 turnovers, shot 39% from the field and scored only nine points in a shaky second quarter. It won by hitting four three-pointers in the fourth, three by Robert Covington, after missing 16 of 17 attempts through the first three. Instead of crumbling late, as it had in its last three losses, Philadelphia shot 50% in the fourth quarter and forced five Timberwolves turnovers.
At the finish, the players celebrated in low-key style with high-fives and hugs.
"There's a human side," Brown said. "You walk into that locker room and you're just proud of them for staying together, and they're just overjoyed. We all feel we've been pretty close the last handful of games. It's not like we're getting embarrassed regularly. This validates the work they have put in."
Back-to-back three-pointers by Covington, one from each wing, put Philadelphia up 71-64 with 6:28 to play. The Timberwolves answered with an 11-2 run to go back ahead before Philadelphia scored 10 of the next 12 points. Covington and K.J. McDaniels hit three-pointers, and Nerlens Noel added an alley-oop lay-in from Michael Carter-Williams, who had nine assists and nine rebounds to go with 20 points.
"When Mike gets hot, he's kind of hard to stop," McDaniels said. "He did a great job of leading us."
Carter-Williams went 42 minutes as the 76ers' only healthy point guard. Covington finished with 17 points and McDaniels 12 off the bench as Philadelphia's reserves outscored Minnesota's 32-14. The 4-13 Timberwolves were missing starters Ricky Rubio (sprained left ankle), Kevin Martin (broken right wrist) and Nikola Pekovic (sprained right wrist), but the 76ers hardly cared.
"It's a big relief off my chest, and the same with the rest of the guys," Carter-Williams said. "They say they feel more relaxed now that they got a win. I think we can build off this and get some more."
Philadelphia's awful start to the season wasn't much of a surprise. The 76ers brought only one player to Minnesota with more than two years experience, 28-year-old forward Luc Mbah a Moute. Another veteran, Jason Richardson, hasn't played in more than a year because of ankle and knee problems.
"We have the youngest team in the history in the sport," Brown said. "We have the team with the least experience in the history of the game. It's not a great combination. And so we're here to develop, to identify players that can be keepers."
And the 76ers found no help in the draft. First-round pick Joel Embiid might miss the whole season with a stress fracture in his right foot, and Croatian forward Dario Saric is playing in Turkey. The 76ers lead the NBA in turnovers.
"When the lights go out and it's sort of quiet, you think a lot about, this is hard," Brown said. "But you come back in the gym and you see these young guys, and you're reminded about why you took the job and you left Disneyland in San Antonio. You just have a new level of juice.
"Even knowing what I know now, with our draft picks not here, and we've taken some hits with some injuries, I'd take this job 50 times out of 50 times. When in pro sports do you have an opportunity to come and put your thumbprint on a culture and have a chance to grow it? This opportunity doesn't happen. There are amazing sacrifices that have happened along the way."
Wednesday night, for the first time all season, smiles filled the 76ers locker room postgame. Oklahoma City comes to the Wells Fargo Center on Friday night, but Carter-Williams need not dread questions about records and losing streaks.
"I feel very satisfied," Carter-Williams said. "I feel like there's weight off my shoulders. Everyone is not talking about us, if we're going to do this, this and that. It's just a great feeling to win."
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